A Story for a Line
by Dark Angel Bakura
Summary: Basically identical to my series "A Story for a Word", except each chapter is based on a quote. All chapters are still Bakurae-centric. Generally will be rated T for language, blood, and occasional swearing. Non-yaoi. Chapter 10 - Strongest. "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars." - Kahil Labanese
1. Two Graves

**Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. - Confucius **

The Spirit of the Millennium Ring knew that the vengeance he sought would bring about his end. But he took comfort in knowing that unless something extraordinary happened, his family would be avenged. Thousands of years passed, and the Spirit took comfort in the monotony. Nothing extraordinary, nothing special. His hosts would last a day or two, some had even made a week. But never any more than that. He had to use them quickly before they burned out.

But then something special happened: Ryou. From the outside, the boy seemed weak, pitiful. The Spirit thought he was going to burn through the boy within the minute. But the boy felt barely any pain. He and the boy clicked together like a key in a lock. Without a beat, the boy took on the full brunt of the Spirit's rage and pain and strength.

He was also perceptive. He knew from the beginning when the Spirit invaded his brain. If the boy had been any good at mental barriers, the Spirit would have had a major problem. But as it was, the boy had been the best thing to happen to him.

But right now, watching the boy die while his own metaphysical form was being ripped to shreds, the Spirit, Koe, as Ryou had dubbed him, wished the two of them had never met. Maybe then, at least one of them would have been alive by the end of this.

**A/N: For some reason, this was in actual English when I saved it, but for some reason, afterwards, it turned to unreadable computer code. That is the weirdest thing. It happened to my other story, A Story for A Word. So I'm reuploading it now! Here's hoping...**


	2. Getting Out

**"It is easier to get into the enemy's toils than out again." - Aesop **

Putting on the Ring had been easy. It had taken barely a second to do. He felt a little tightness, a little coldness, and then everything was normal. He actually enjoyed the Ring for a while. It made him feel less alone, important.

But when he learned about the price, he knew that nothing was worth the pain he caused others. But taking off the Ring wasn't as easy as putting it on had been.

Years after the Spirit had died or vanished or whatever, he was still struggling to take it off.

**A/N: Since this is so short, I'm gonna double-upload.**


	3. Vacation

**"No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has already had one." - Albert Hubbard **

Life was finally normal. For the first time in his recent memory (which was admittedly a little foggy), he had had a normal week. No one telling him his life was pointless, no one making him cut class or hurt his friends, no one keeping his body awake all night.

He had caught up on sleep and homework and actually had time to relax. He had just started watching a popular new anime when a familiar feeling prickled the back of his neck.

His stomach replaced his toes and his heart filled the void his stomach left. His ears roared, and his body shook.

"Please no. Please, no no no no no…" He murmured. He got to his feet to check the thermostat, praying that it had randomly plunged about fifteen degrees.

When he got up to check the temperature, he noticed a large weight around his neck and the clock had jumped far forward.

Suddenly, all the excitement and energy drained out of him. He lay back down, suddenly too apathetic to bother to see what Bakura had been doing for the last forty minutes.

"What seems to be the problem?" Bakura's voice echoed through his head. "After a week to yourself, I would have though you would be a bit… perkier."

Ryou flung an arm over his eyes and turned off the T.V. "So did I."


	4. Overcomer

**"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it." - Hellen Keller**

Delicate, bony fingers dug into the soft flesh between his neck and shoulder. Ryou bit back a yelp but was unable to contain a jerk of pain.

He could feel the Spirit's pleasure. It thought it was winning. But Ryou never cried, never called the Spirit "Bakura", and held his personal thoughts in a hidden fortress where the Spirit couldn't reach.

And the fortress was growing.

**A/N: Sorry these are all super-short. I don't know why... I'll do another double-upload**


	5. Familiarity

**"Familiarity breeds contempt." - Aesop **

Ryou wished he had listened to the Spirit and never gone near Yuugi. From afar, Yuugi was perfect: kind, smart, funny, and above all, honorable. Every time Ryou saw Yuugi, he was teaching a friend to play a game, blushing as a teacher read out his "perfect" essay, telling his friends a joke, or taking the blame when he managed to make a mistake. Ryou enjoyed watching from afar, and if the Spirit hadn't spoken up, maybe Ryou never would have become friends with Yuugi.

But the Spirit warned Ryou to stay away from Yuugi. It said he was violent, selfish, and a liar. Ryou knew the Spirit was evil, so everything it said had to be a lie. The Spirit must be trying to keep Ryou from meeting the only goodness in his life after Amane passed away.

For the first year, Yuugi did seem perfect. He talked with Ryou between classes, and even introduced him to more friends. But Ryou started noticing things. Yuugi and Jounouchi would trade VHS and DVDs secretly, and if Anzu found out, she would yell and them and throw the VHS or DVD in the trash. When Ryou asked about it, they would both redden and tell Ryou it was nothing. Then came all of Yuugi's laziness. He rarely did his homework until a few minutes before each period, his essays were written on the bus ride to school, and he hid cheat sheets in the back of his calculator. A few times, Ryou and Yuugi made plans to get together, but Yuugi would call at the last second and claim a much needed cram session, a cold, or a visiting aunt or uncle. Often Ryou heard someone else in the background.

On the dueling field Ryou noticed signs of pride: boredom when playing a much less skilled player, then toying with that player, and finally crushing them. When someone did ask to duel, Yuugi made a great show of sportsmanship, but Ryou could now see the anger that flushed his face when someone started to win, Ryou knew that furrowed brow meant that he was so jealous, he would take a bathroom break until the end of the lunch period and then claim he would have won if he hadn't been stopped by a teacher berating him for "running in the halls".

Ryou slowly pulled away from Yuugi, who seemed more than okay with the situation. More than once, Ryou overheard Yuugi telling others, "He's just kinda creepy. Like, he just stands there and smiles. Like he's secretly plotting your death. And that hair…" He always laughed, as if the thought of tri-colored hair was less ridiculous than long white hair.

Finally, Ryou started avoiding Yuugi. And despite what the Spirit said, it wasn't because of Yuugi's faults. Everyone had faults: Ryou himself had plenty. But at least Ryou never pretended to be better than he actually was. And that pride was possibly the worst quality a person could have, Ryou thought. So he spent time alone, trying to forget the perfection he had thought Yuugi had.


	6. Mask

**"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth." - Oscar Wilde**

Ryou's inner thoughts were a closely guarded secret. He rarely spoke. Not for fear of embarrassing himself. He could do that quite well without speaking, thank you very much. But he kept quiet for fear that he would reveal too much of himself. In letting people know him, he opened not only himself up to their opinions, but also opened them up to danger from the Spirit living inside of him. So he kept his mouth shut.

Maybe that's why Ryou never really got around to throwing the Spirit out. Every time the Spirit came out, it acted out Ryou's violent thoughts. Every time he wanted to punch or kick or yell in frustration, he kept it inside, and the Spirit took all that frustration out on their enemies. Never mind that those enemies were sometimes innocent people Ryou had never met. All that mattered was that he could remain quiet and distant around people he knew. He had to protect them. And if allowing innocents to get sent to the Shadow Realm was the only way to do that, well, the Spirit's creative side had to come from _some_where…

**A/N: Not sure how I feel about this one... What do you think?**


	7. Power

"He who controls others may be powerful, but he who masters himself is more powerful still." - Lao Tzu

Pain usually accompanied the blackouts, but today was worse. Today, he had reddish dirt in the cracks of his skin. But he knew it wasn't reddish dirt. He switched his train of thought to avoid remembering what he must have done. He scrubbed his hands clean and looked at the clock, the calendar. Last he remembered, it was evening. Now it was early morning. Next day. Okay.

He took a deep breath. School was in a few hours, but he wouldn't be able to get any rest. He was too jittery. The Spirit must have been put in danger again. The adrenaline was too much. So Ryou put on his coat (which he most definitely did not leave in a pile by the door.) and walked outside. The security guard in the lobby nodded at him. "Going back out?"

Ryou nodded. "Can't sleep." He explained. The guard laughed.

"If I had a nickel every time you've said that to me, I'd be rich." He waved Ryou through.

Ryou laughed back. He had never said that to the guard before now.

He crossed the road into the park just across from his apartment building. It was small but secluded, with a short path along a cherry tree grove.

Too bad all the cherry blossoms were dead.

In the safety of the seclusion, Ryou took a deep breath. He was himself now. The Spirit might be in control of him, but Ryou was in control of himself as well. He was breathing steadily, he was calming down his heartbeat. He could feel the Spirit prickling at the corners of his mind, but Ryou concentrated on his slow, steady breathing and his slow, steady heartbeat. He couldn't control the Spirit, but he could control himself. He was calm, he was steady.

The prickling grew stronger. The Spirit wanted to rile him up. He felt panic and fear rising in his chest. With a slow breath, Ryou wiped the feeling away. It was just a feeling. No actual danger. The Spirit could do whatever he wanted to Ryou's mind, but Ryou knew that he could fight.

Best of all, He could win.

**A/N: Because Ryou needs to win at least a few battles!**


	8. Finishing

**A/N: I'm such a lazy $$hole. Sorry guys. It was hard, but I decided to do it, because it's the perfect quote**

"It's not so important who starts the game, but who finishes it" – John Woode

He was not in control. That much was clear to Ryou. Not being in control of his body was weird, especially when the Spirit didn't bother to put him in his Soul Room.

He watched through his own eyes as the Spirit rolled the dice, sentencing his… were they friends? Yes. They were friends. They came to check on him, to make sure he was okay, they hung out with him, and made him laugh. They were definitely friends, and they were being killed by a Spirit that was controlling his body.

Ryou had known that the Spirit was using the Soul Dice to cheat all along, but it rarely mattered. All of the people the Spirit used it against couldn't match its skill. But Yuugi was so close to beating it. Ryou knew that without the Soul Dice, the Spirit would lose. He had to do something. Maybe… just maybe…

Concentrating hard on the die, he imagined that he was filling it up. He had done something similar many times during meditation, but now that he was in a metaphysical state, he could feel himself float forward and merging with the die. He felt boxy and light. He felt the warmth and sweat from his hand (the one not currently stabbed through with a castle spire, mind you) as he was rolled around and tossed to the table.

He heard the Spirit's laughter and knew that Yuugi was going to die if he didn't do something quickly, and he knew exactly what to do.

But could he survive this? He had never pondered the soul and what happens to it, had never thought of a situation similar to this. He supposed that if he broke the die, his soul would shatter along with it. Was it really worth it?

From his position on the table, Ryou could sense the line of brightly colored figurines of all the people the Spirit had killed. Yuugi had gotten the closest to beating the Spirit. He doubted anyone else could do so. Now was the only time to destroy the Spirit once and for all. He could do it. For his friends.

The die started to crack. The Spirit may have started the game, but Ryou was going to finish it.

**A/N: Once I got started, it was a lot of fun! I realized this is very similar to a couple oneshots I wrote in "A Story for a Word", the chapters titled "Quest" and "Fireball". If this interested you, that might as well!**


	9. Substance

**"Beware, lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow" -Aesop**

Ryou was in his apartment. There was the fireplace, the sink, the picture of Amane on the mantle. Yes. This was his apartment. Ryou breathed a sigh of relief. He always hated waking up inside someone else's apartment. It meant something bad had happened. But everything was okay. He was alone, and the Ring was cool on his chest. The Spirit, gone. Probably hibernating after whatever scheme he had just pulled.

Suddenly, Ryou felt a prickle on the back of his neck, like he was being watched. But not in the bad way, like the Spirit did, it was more… gentle. Lovingly. Kinda like his mother had done, back when she was living with him. Ryou looked around. No, his mother had not come for a visit. She would have called first. She's very good at calling first. There was nothing there, so Ryou looked around for his backpack. It was by the shoe cubby, right where it always left it. (Ryou refused to call the Spirit a he. It seemed wrong, somehow)

Ryou heaved the bag over his shoulder and was heading towards his room when he heard the voice calling him. "…brother…" Ryou paled and nearly dropped his backpack. Was that..

"Hello, brother." Amane floated before him, ethereal and beautiful, wrapped in a simple white dress, her light, wavy hair fell past her shoulders and down to her waist. She was much older and much more beautiful than she had been when… when the car hit her. "Hello, brother." Amane repeated. She touched down on the ground and smiled, before becoming serious. "You must destroy every memory you have of me." She said gravely.

Ryou shook his head in disbelief. He knew that the dead could come back to life, but to have Amane in his arms, it felt unreal. It took him a second to process what she had told him. "Wait, what? Why?"

Amane sighed. " You must destroy everything: pictures, drawings, belongings, all the letters you wrote to me. Everything."

"But… but why? I mean, can't I just keep something? Why do I have to give you up?"

Amane placed a hand on his shoulder. He instantly calmed down. "You are not going to give me up. Once all your old memories are gone, I will be able to come back. Alive."

Ears roaring with shock, Ryou took a step back. "You mean, like, really come back. For good?"

She smiled. "Yeah, big bro. I will be able to come back for good. I promise I'll be more careful around cars this time around." She laughed. It was so nostalgic. It sounded exactly like her. Without thinking, Ryou built up a fire in the fireplace. He raced to his room and pulled out his memorabilia box: everything physical of Amane's he still owned resided in that box. He hurried back and tossed the box's contents into the fire. He stepped back to watch it burn, and his eye caught on the picture of Amane in the mantle place. Did he have to…?

"And the photo, big bro."

"But- That's not… it's…" Ryou trailed off as he looked into her sad eyes.

"Please, I want to come back. Just put the photo in the fire, and let it burn."

Ryou obeyed. Five minutes later, there was nothing of Amane's existence but a pile of ash. He turned to her. She was smiling, but there was something off about it. It looked familiar, but it wasn't her smile. It was- No….

Amane's form shifted until it took on his own. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring floated a few inches off the ground, maniacal grin on his face. "Why, Host! What did you just do?" He said in an overly exaggerated tone. "I think you just destroyed every memory of your sister you ever had! Now, why would you do that.

Ryou screamed. He hurled magazines, books, shoes, even a chair at the Spirit, but he wasn't corporeal, so Ryou's blows went right through him. "Bastard! Give her back!"

The Spirit of the Millennium Ring laughed. "It's your own damn fault. Did you really believe she would just come back like that after all these years? Well, then you were asking for it."

Dropping to his knees, Ryou started sobbing and didn't stop until he had fallen asleep, curled in a ball on the floor.


	10. Strongest

**"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars."- Kahil Labanese**

Ryou didn't think he would ever be grateful for what the Spirit of the Millenium Ring had done to his life. For nearly a decade, Ryou lived in fear that his best friends would fall into a coma and never wake up. Then, when he knew the truth, he was even more terrified. He knew what Bakura could do, he knew that no matter what he did, Bakura could always overpower him.

He lived his life trying and failing to overcome this dark force in his life. He had nearly given up a few times, but it was his friends that had kept him going. He needed to protect them. He needed to keep them safe from himself.

Because of the Spirit, Ryou knew isolation, he knew fear, and he knew desperation. He had had the lowest points of his life when he was still young, and had seen so many terrible things in the Shadow Realm that he couldn't even begin to explain to the others.

And while they say time heals all wounds, it really doesn't. He still had nightmares, flashes of uncontrollable fear whenever his mind went back to what had happened during Battle City and even before that. He probably had PTSD, but how could he explain why he had it in a way that wouldn't get him sent to a mental facility for schizophrenia?

So he made do. He had a good job in Domino City in his father's museum, and he remained close to Yuugi, Honda, Jou, Anzu, Ryuji, and Malik.

Often, Yuugi would stop by and just talk. Ryou was surprised by what he was saying. The was so desperately lonely. Even though he had people all around them, he felt so alone. Ryou would put a comforting arm around his shoulders and offer him a cup of tea while they talked it out.

More than once, Yuugi asked him how he had kept it all together. Yuugi was just dealing with lonliness. Ryou had to deal with everything that the Spirit had done.

Ryou would shrug. "The things that he did…" Ryou trailed off, trying to explain gently, "…they were hardly nice. But, it's done. I'm separate from the Spirit, and you are separate from Atem. We have to move on. It sucks, and its hard, but that's all there is to it."

Yuugi would laugh and shake his head as if that was impossible, as if he was looking for a magic spell or special potion to help him out, but knowing no such thing existed.

This time, Yuugi turned to him as he was leaving and said, "You're really strong, Ryou. I hope you've noticed for yourself." He said with a slight smile before closing the door with a _click_.

Ryou stared at the door, trying to understand what Yuugi had just said. Him? Strong? Hardly. He hadn't been strong enough to keep the Spirit from putting his friends into comas. He hadn't been strong enough to warn his friends when the Spirit was about to take over his body. He hadn't been strong enough to break the Spirit's control. But perhaps the Spirit wasn't a fair comparison. After all, it was an ancient Egyptian god.

Perhaps, by mortal standards, Ryou was pretty strong after all…


	11. Boiling Water

_How cheerfully he seems to grin!/How neatly he spreads his claws,/ and welcomes fishes in/with gently smiling jaws - Lewis Carrol_

Often times, it was difficult for Ryou to separate his will from that of the Spirit of the Milennium Ring. The two of them had been together for so long that their wills at times twisted together, unable to be separated. Did he want to make a figurine for his friend, or did the Spirit? Was he the one who felt like avoiding his friends, or was that the Spirit's influence, isolating him from people who could help? Did he really like the Millennium Ring that much, or was the Spirit securing his corporeal body in this reality? He really didn't know at this point. And, perhaps worse, he didn't seem to care.

Maybe if the Spirit had first appeared to him in its first, monstrous form, then maybe Ryou would have prepared for a fight. But the Spirit was clever and wily. It appeared to Ryou in a human body, his own. It cooed words of friendship and kindness. It played the victim, an innocent peasant killed by a greedy king.

So Ryou didn't see who the Spirit really was until it was trying to kill his friends. And by that time, it was too late. It had Ryou between its teeth, and it was already chomping down.

* * *

**A/N: If you are wondering why this chapter is called "Boiling Water" when there is literally no boiling water in it, it's because if you put frogs in a pot of water and slowly turn it up to a boil, the frog will never leave and will die because it can't understand the change in temperature. **


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